About a week or so ago I went to a conference named Watch Your Language. It was for BSL interpreters and CSWs (neither of which I am, but I have decided that I will make sure that in September 2013 I will be enrolled on my interpreter training) and was held in London. I do start my BSL level 3 in September (finally!) so I figured this conference would be good experience for me.

It was. Days like these improve my receptive skills, knowledge of the Deaf world and understanding of the professional side of things.

In the morning there were presentations on the role of the interpreter and CSW, and they discussed how to be a Deaf ally whilst remaining professional. The second speech was on Deaf people's perceptions of interpreters, the role of deaf clubs and the advancement of technology and how this has changed things in the Deaf community.

Lastly there was a presentation on choosing interpreters, and how much choice Deaf people should have in picking an terp. Does it matter if the terp is registered? How does registration affect co-working? How effective is the complaints procedure? How do terps maintain competency? So many things to think about!

These presentations were all in BSL and voiced over into English. This was particularly interesting as I have recently gone on 3 voiceover workshops (run by Deaf Matters), which were probably more useful (in terms of working) than any of my language classes have been. Anyway, I could see how the professionals worked when doing voiceover and I was able to recognise some of the techniques we were taught on the workshops.

The afternoon consisted of 2 workshops. One on Visual Language, what is it, how does it differ from BSL, does it have structure etc. Very interesting discussion but unfortunately my receptive skills failed me at critical points. Very embarrassing. There was lots of food for thought offered up in this session and I still haven't come to a conclusion about what visual language is!

The final session of the day was on interpreting English idioms to BSL. Considering I don't always understand the meaning of the idiom when presented into English, this was a very useful topic as I got to learn things! The problem with idioms is they are specific to a language and culture, and their literal and figurative meaning is entirely different. For example, dime a dozen, stuck between a rock and a hard place, drop in the ocean.

It was a very good day and just reinforced to me how much I miss working with Deaf people. Oh well, I'll get there in the end!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Supergirl and JLA were good. Gotham City Sirens has this gorgeous cover which I would love to see as a poster:

Teen Titans had a proper story about Hindu deitys and myths and Solstice was centre stage. There were some interesting things going on with Raven too.

But what I really want to talk about is Superman/Batman, which was the clear winner.

It's the third part of the Sorcerer Kings storyline, wherein Superman is snatched away to a hellish future where magic rules and the future Superman is dead. The future JLA consists of Batman in an extremely home made costume, Klarion the witch boy (and a size changing Teekl), Jason blood, Stanley Dover and his monster (no I don't know who this person is either), Scream Queen and Aquaman!

So, about half of these are magic users. The yellow sun no longer exists so Superman is powered by magic sun, giving him the ability 'think' his enemies away. We will count him as magical too then.

The placement of Bruce in a magic rich environment is amusing, given how much he hates magic. The art is superb.

The inclusion of Aquaman is what makes this issue stand out. At last someone recognises Arthur as a heavy hitter! Arthur now holds of all the souls of the Atlantean people in his body - it was the only way he could save them all. Surely this is what being a King is about? Preserving your state and your peoples at all costs? Arthur's status as royalty is the most interesting thing about him, I think, and really is not exploited enough.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Holy crap it's been hot in England recently. It was 25 degrees on Wednesday and 23 degrees this weekend. I went a bit pink. The heat has been bloody lovely, but I'd quite like some rain for the garden now please.

Anyway, if we go back on topic, I shall show you some Adventures of Superman comic scans. I had hoped for lots of examples of Batman being a dick but he doesn't atcually turn up in many of them. From #467 we have these two charming panels:

Friday, April 22, 2011

So, last week, France's law banning face coverings came into effect. It is widely believed that this law was brought about to stop women form wearing the burka. However, I don't believe the law specifically mentions the word burka. I think I've talked about this before, but I'll talk about it again.

This is a fairly drastic law that has been enacted to stop a handful of women, (about 300 or so, I believe), from wearing the burka. It is being enforce din the name of equality and ending oppression. Now, maybe I'm being a little naive here*, but the idea of fighting oppression with yet more oppression is not only ridiculous, but unworkable.

No woman, no human, should be forced to wear something they don't wish to. Women shouldn't be forced to wear the burka if they don't want to. But this law won't address this issue of force. For those women forced to wear it in public, there is a high possibility that now they simply won't be allowed out of the house, i.e. out in public.

For those women choosing to wear it, how on earth does this law help them? How does banning their wearing of it make the banners (the government) any better than the people who force other women to wear the burka?

How does taking away women's choice help us achieve gender equality?

Mind you, I don't really believe that this law is about achieving gender equality. France has always been very protective of it's culture, very keen to preserve the French language and French way of life. Radio and TV stations must play/show a certain amount of French language songs/TV programmes, for example. It's a secular country and doesn't have a lot of time for religion. It also doesn't particularly like immigrants, or anyone un-French. I get the impression it can be rather racist.

I think these things have led towards the ban on the burka, I think that mentioning feminism and gender equality is just lip service, and that these terms are used only because it is politically convenient. France is not free of sexism or misogyny (where is?) and this ban on face coverings does not further the feminist cause. If this law is to be followed to the letter then I expect to see fancy dress masks and carnival masks also banned.

I don't expect this will happen. Why not? Because the French government cares about how French (as in the degree of Frenchness of a person) people look on the outside. Muslims in the burka do not look French, so they should be got rid of. Out of sight, out of mind and all that.

For those that argue for a ban because seeing a women in a burka makes them, the onlooker, feel uncomfortable, well, if you think that you're a prat.

I think the French government would prefer Muslim women to wear more Westernised clothes - no doubt fashionable garments, probably tight and accompanied by high heels. I.e., swapping one sort of clothing conformity for another, ugh.

No, this ban on the burka and other facial coverings does not help women at all. There are more effective ways to help abused and oppressed women, whatever their religious or cultural background, but this stupid and downright offensive law is not one of them.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

So, about a year or so ago I had in mind a post where I would collect all the homages to the Death of Supergirl cover I could find. This post has been sat in my draft page since December 2009. I thought I'd do something about it and actually post the damn thing.

For clarity, here is the original image, from the Crisis on Infinite Earths maxi series, issue #7:

Who's up for an old-fashioned letter campaign?

All right, so Ben Caldwell's Wonder Woman pitch got attention back when I was on the way to Afghanistan so I never got a chance to comment on it (even to note it has lovelyart), but tonight I'm thinking about Wonder Woman, DC current direction for her, fans and such. A postcard campaign got the series renumbered to 600 rather than reset at 1 for this latest reboot. Letter campaigns got Manhunter two reprieves. A letter campaign brought Stephanie Brown back from the dead.
I think there's an off chance we can get this published, or at least get it in their heads that we want Wonder Woman to be for young girls too. And if it works, we can finally have a Wonder Woman book to give to our younger family and friends. That should be something worth shooting for even if you don't like certain aspects of it.
So, if you'd spend postage to get this a second chance, please Reblog. We'll get organized if there's enough of us.

Most of the reblogs happened within the first hour, and it seems to still be slowly trickling throughout the community five days later.

As a thoroughly unpleasant person by choice, I'm not a particularly effective leader. I'm also someone in a ridiculously busy job who can get called away from her hobbies for long periods of time in order to take little trips, or cover for people who are on little trips. So I'm not a particularly good fit for fan activism, however... No one else seems to want to do this and this is something I think can work.

Like I said, fan letter campaigns have gotten books extended, characters resurrected, and Wonder Woman renumbered rather than rebooted for a fourth issue one. DC right now is flailing about for something, anything, they can do to make Wonder Woman a seller again. There's a bit of an interest upsurge because of TV show casting and the fact that every major superhero property to hit the main-stream has been male-dominated, and the first character to come to mind when they ask what female superhero can have a movie is Wonder Woman.

And lately DC and it's related companies have passed on every chance to reimagine super-hero related properties for young women. But everytime something like Caldwell's pitch, or Lois Lane: Girl Reporter or now Barbara Gordon, Girl Detective hit the internet as a failure every reaction seems to be: "What is WRONG with them?" And to me, the biggest "What is WRONG with them?" is passing on any female-aimed Wonder Woman adaptation, because Wonder Woman was originally pitched as a way to bring girls into superheroes. It stars a princess superhero who dances between high fantasy and utopian sci-fi. The classic cast is all female except for one token boy, like so many other girl properties. Wonder Woman is a girl franchise, most successful at times when it is accessible to girls (the 40s when every kid read, the 70s in TV form when every little girl watched, and now she's at her best in merchandising, which women eat up), but they're resisting every pitch that's designed to bring her back to girls.

Meanwhile, DC's desperate attempts to revamp Wonder Woman have led us again to a point where the very opposite of her concept is emphasized in all of the solicits (and interviews with the crossover writers) even as better writers desperately try to keep true to the character and still emphasize balance. And these attempts to revamp her always seem to come back to the same ideas, which are custom-designed for the shrinking superhero audience that would already be reading Wonder Woman if they wanted to. All of this as the audience she's intended for is unaware that an icon of this genre was in fact custom-designed with them in mind.

Really, the whole thing is indicative of some very thick heads and soft spines.

However, if we were to give them impression that a number of us would buy the thing if we saw it on the shelf, they may be more inclined to open their eyes and take a risk. I think Caldwell's pitch is the best shot at this. It's using Wonder Woman, who has serious brand recognition but much less out there than Superman or Batman, and who won't be mistaken for a spin-off or tie-in to another property. It's specifically designed to appeal to the fantasy readers and the romance readers as well as the adventure readers. There's some imagery that I'm sure is meant to appeal to the coveted audience of Twilight but unlike Twilight, it features characters and relationships originally designed by a psychologist to turn traditional gender roles upside down and portray girls as heroic and active.

And it has one major thing going for it that some of the other rejected properties don't have. It's from a creator that has already been allowed to write the character being pitched. Caldwell got Wonder Woman for Wednesday Comics, someone at DC was already willing to trust him with her. He's got a foot in the door, there, so logically he's got a better chance of them letting him back in, especially based on a fan campaign. And if this idea works, and sells, it opens the door for other properties like Lois Lane and Barbara Gordon to be optioned for a wider audience.

Hell, even if there was something else blocking Caldwell's pitch in particular, we might get into their heads that we want a modern Wonder Woman aimed at young adults and get someone else's pitch through.

If it doesn't work, and they use it's failure to turn down other ideas... We're in the same boat we're in if we never tried, except without a streamlined Young Adult Wonder Woman story we can give to our younger female friends and relatives to introduce them to a female superhero.

I'm up for this, and it looks like a large number of people are. Thing is, I'm pretty busy in my regular life, so I'll need a lot of help. Drop me your email in my askbox or my formspring if you're up for it. We'll get a mailing list. We'd have to put together a website, set a date, write up our reasons and find ways to expand beyond people who read my little blogs.

Monday, April 18, 2011

So, there's this place called Belaruse, which I've been vaguely of for many a year. I suspect because of a song by the Levellers, the lyrics go like this:

Belaruse no longer feels the sun
But it's under the skin of everyone
Belaruse forgotten by the blind
That is until the next time

Remember all your yesterdays
In the deep blue
Before the world came
And rested there on you

And if the sun and moon
Were both to doubt
Then sure enough
They'd both go out
When you can't walk in your field
Feel water in your hands
You've been touched by the doubt of man

I'm not quite sure what the song means, if I'm honest, I've never been sure what it's about. So imagine my surprise at reading an article about current day Belaruse, in the Guardian newspaper last week (reprinted in the Observer). The article is subtitled:

Just two hours from Britain is Europe's last dictatorship, a country that recalls Stalinist Russia and where critics of the government 'disappear'. But thanks to an underground theatre group – and supporters including Jude Law and Tom Stoppard – the world is finally waking up to its plight

Err what? A Stalinist dictatorship in Europe? Surely not. But reading through, it seems to be the case.

Some choice sentences from the article:

"Their other daughter, 17-year-old Marya, is still in Belarus, as are their parents and they don't know when they'll ever see them again. They've been named enemies of the state, but, as Natalia repeatedly points out, they're the lucky ones. Many of their friends are in jail; others are dead."

"She's another unwilling activist. Another accidental campaigner. "I hate politics!" she says. "Hate it. And yet here I am! It's incredible to me." She's a doctor who's lived in Britain for the past 18 years, her partner is a British aeronautical engineer, but on 19 December last year, her brother, Andrei Sannikov, Belarus's most credible opposition leader, and a presidential candidate, was beaten up, arrested, and is being held in a KGB jail awaiting what in effect amounts to a show trial."

"We found a lawyer, but they de-barred him, because that's what they do."

"This isn't like Russia in the 80s. It's Russia in 1937. These mass arrests. People being disappeared. It's the purges."

"Two out of eight presidential candidates are in KGB jails; another is under house arrest, although at one point seven out of the eight had been detained. ("Even in Russia, they renamed the KGB the FSB," says Natalia. "In Belarus, they didn't even bother.") Another, Ales Mikhalevic, has now fled to the Czech Republic and at a press conference told how he was tortured by masked men."

"Viktor Gonchar, the leader of the opposition, simply disappeared while driving home. Vanished."

A woman named Natalia Kaliada is spearheading the opposition in the U K (Natalia is the she referred to in all the above quotes). From the sounds of this article Ms Kaliada is an amazing woman, and my new hero. How the duck is this sort of thing still happening, in Europe of all places? No wonder I've not heard much about Belaruse, I can't imagine the government lets much information out.

In terms of how to help, well Amnesty are doing a lot of work to help Ms Kaliada. I am a member of Amnesty. I believe in what they do and I believe in their reputation, their stance and their committment to their work. They are outspoken about both women's and queer issues and they get things done. I trust them and I think they have their priorities right.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

The Abortion Support Network (ASN) have a new website! They have also started a 'standing order campaign' to get a £1000 in standing order donations coming in every month. As you well know, I fully support this organisation. Their fundraising thermometer is currently at £500 a month but they need more.

The ASN is "a volunteer-run organisation that provides financial assistance, accommodation in volunteer homes, and confidential, non-judgmental information to women in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland who are travelling to England to access a safe and legal abortion."

FAQs about the organisation can be seen here. ASN have this to say about the law on abortion in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland:

In both Northern Ireland (despite being part of the UK) and the Republic of Ireland, abortion is illegal in almost all circumstances and it is virtually impossible for women to access an abortion legally. In both countries, however, women can legally travel abroad for an abortion and information can be provided about accessing abortions abroad (under certain conditions).
Further information about the law on abortion in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland is available here:

Friday, April 15, 2011

I've just read Ragnell's latest post on the WW parts of the upcoming Flashpoint series. It got me thinking. Ragnell says there are some people that can't seem to get past a bloodthirsty warrior aspect to Diana and the Amazons.

Now, I love the warrior aspect to the Amazons. But to me, that means they are strategists. When they fight, they win, because they are talented. They train, they practice drills, they have a hell of a lot of discipline and they are good.

But part of being an effective warrior, or having an effective warrior force, is knowing when not to fight. When to use that wisdom of Athena and solve conflicts by words instead. You know, that whole message of peace that Di has got? That whole storyline from Rucka's run where she wrote a book about her teachings of peace?

Is it really possible that people only want the fighting stuff? The violence, the wars, the stabbing and the conflict? Isn't that boring?

Monday, April 11, 2011

Golly gosh, crumbs, wowsers, by heck, this was good. It broke my heart several times over.

Has anyone seen the film? I ain’t (cos I’m a bibliophile and nothing beats a decent book) but I’ve heard decent things about it, so I picked it up (well, downloaded it anyway, onto mah kindle).

It’s set in an alternative 90s where clones are grown/reared in specialist institutions to provide vital organs for their ‘models’ when said models get cancer or other horrific and otherwise incurable diseases. It’s told from the point of the view of a particular group of cloned humans, but, and this is the interesting bit, the clones are fully aware of what they are and what their destinies are. But, because they’ve been treated in such a humane manner, it never occurs to them that some people could see them as sub human. They regard themselves as fully human, with souls and with every right to exist, all the time whilst accepting their destinies.

This group of clones (or students as they are referred to within the book) live at Hailsham, an idyllic and peaceful residential school ion the English countryside. They are taught maths/art/English/science and all those other lessons every other kid does. The students have no contact with the outside world and this is made clear and reinforced when it is mentioned they are being taught about (what we think of as) everyday things like the police, road crossings, taxes etc.

As we proceed throughout the book we see hints that some teachers are revulsed by the students, who do notice this attitude but are bemused as to why this is so. They are raised to have self worth, and any emotional issues or confidence problems are linked to personality differences and the group dynamics of the students. The cloning thing is only brought to light and really dealt with at the end of the book, which is also where we discover the history of England and how it came to be using clones (as well as some suggestions as to the horror that other clones endure growing up).

The students are all sterile and unable to bear children, although there seems to be no taboo on sexual activity. Nevertheless, the students do not all engage in sex from an early age. No, most of them have sex when they feel ready and on the whole have healthy relationships.

There’s a small reference to being gay, but it’s brushed aside really quickly and I can’t understand why the author even included it. I guess he thought it would be inclusive, but it’s just a small paragraph explaining that while there may be gay boys at the school gay relationships aren’t established as the kids get bullied for it. That’s it. There’s no mentions of lesbians or of bisexuality.

It’s bizarre because the book is quite clear that the teachers have no problem with the students having sex (so long as it’s safe and consensual), and with no contact with the outside world I don’t know where they’d get the idea that being gay is wrong. Homophobia is not innate, it is learned, so where would the students learn this from? To be honest, that paragraph reads like the author had to invent a reason not to deal with gay relationships. If that’s true, that’s a rubbish cop out thing to do.

Ignoring this one problem, I really loved this book and would urge people to try it out. Especially as it’s available as an e book! I read it on my kindle (which I am still loving, thank you very much!).

Sunday, April 10, 2011

I won a book! My two reviews for February were entered into the LGBT Reading Challenge draw and I won this Stella Duffy book. So I thought I’d review it and turn it into a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy..

I admit I hadn’t quite realised that Duffy was a crime writer until I received the book. Normally I dislike crime books so was quite surprised when this turned out to be very readable.

Central to the plot is Saz – a private detective in London (oh how I love reading books set in real places in my country!). She is hired to investigate a Maxwell North, a distinguished doctor who also heads up a new age cult movement, focusing on a new type of therapy called The Process. The Process was dreamt up by Max and some hippies in 1970s Los Angeles and has expanded into a worldwide phenomenom. The book opens with a murder, and then you discover the web of lies and complications that govern these hippies lives, and it becomes clear that it’s not a clear cut case of so and so killed so and so.

As for the LGBT element, Saz is gay and in this book has just together with her new lover Molly. There’s a lot of sex scenes in the book, but they aren’t particularly graphic. This is all for the best I suppose, as quite often descriptive sex scenes come across as rather ridiculous and not the smut-a-thon the author intends (this is not a dig at Duffy, I haven’t read any other books by her, it’s just that on the whole sex scenes aren’t all that sexy). Saz and Molly are normal, regular lesbians. There’s no political point to them being gay, there’s no informed, knowing commentary, they are just gay. Which is nice.

Apart from being incredibly readable, the strengths of this book are the way in which one of the characters, An Anita, analyses and understands her situation. She starts off as an idealistic hippy, wanting to get stoned and change the world, and ends up as den mother to a group of other hippy drop outs, governed by the patriarchal Max. It’s not an ideal situation and as you follow Anita’s life story and she grows to comprehend her position in the house, your heart wrenches for her. It turns out that Duffy is a pretty good character writer, and this book shows it.

One of the weaknesess of the book, or possibly just my reading of it, is I have no friggin clue what or who the Wavewalker is. The blurb on the back makes the Wavewalker seem mystical and mysterious, but apart from some occasional wishy washy (pun not intended) pages told from the Wavewalker’s point of view, there is no other reference to her/him within the book. It seems kind of redundant to have her/him in there. Unless I've missed something of pivotal importance. It's very possible.

Oh well. If you like crime, or stories of cults, or lesbian books, check this out. It’s good fun.

Friday, April 08, 2011

Jimmy Olsen is a prat. I liked him on Smallville, but he was still a bit of a prat there. But more likeable. In Adventures of Superman 458 he became elastic, and didn't deal with it well. I undertsnad that this is a tribute to Jimmy's Silver Age adventures, as is the debut of Jimmy the Turtle Boy. This isn't making me warm to him. Check it out.

The student is very deserving of criticism, because racism isn't ok, but when you criticise someone for being racist, when you point out to them that they are in actual fact racist (and that this isn't a desirable thing to be), it doesn't help your cause to sexually harass them and reduce them to their body parts. Doing so doesn't make you better than the racist person, in fact it makes you as bad as they are. It also doesn't reduce oppession and discrimination, which surely, by calling the racist out on their views, is what you wanted, right?

Anyway, Ami says this much much better than I and the piece is a joy to read. So go read it already. Or I'll get John Stewart involved:

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

So, Adventures of Superman, post crisis, shared all storylines with Superman and Action Comics. In essence, they were 3 ongoing crossover comics. This means that I'm getting one third of the story. But nevermind, it is still enjoyable.

Such as it is, I am going to post key moments in the Lois/Clark relationship, starting from when they got together. More below the jump.

The artwork is spot on. There's one double page with a white background where all the action takes place in panels formed in the shape of a nail (a nail is central to this particular story being told). It''s really dramatic and unusual - I live seeing artists play around with unusual layouts.

Green Arrow #10
I'm still not caring for this series. I know I liked issue 9, but this one leaves me cold again. The one interesting part was Galahad's origins revealed - he is not a knight of Arthurian times, he is a literary scholar with an interest in the Arthur tales, and he decided he was Galahad when his daughter died. I prefer this version of events. It helped that this discovery was topped off with him jumping out a tree and knifing (swording?) Etrigan.

Wonder Woman #609
My disappointment with Dr Psycho being Diana's rescuer has now been alleviated. His role has now become, as Di herself said in the issue, sweet if a little creepy. This has been by far my most favourite issue in this new storyline. For a start, there's tons of Dianas. This issue made it clear that Wonder Woman (and Diana's soul) is central to the DC Universe and that she has always had a place in it. It made sure she cannot be erased. No matter what may happen to the timeline, there will always be Diana's soul, surviving, thriving and leading as a warrior.

This issue showed us
a Diana abandoned at birth for being blind, but growing up to become leader of warriors fighting injustice.
a black pirate Diana born on a slave ship who carried on her mother's legacy, leading women and fighting warlords
a black Diana who is the princess of a tribe and refused to be married, so was cast out by her father. She continued to protect her people and led them against their enemies.

This is the essence of Diana of Themscyria. It doesn't matter what she wears or where she is. She is noble, compassionate and a fighter. This issue had everything in it I wanted. I feel like I can finally see what Straczynski was trying to do. I know I've been up and down on this series, but I think, looking back, that when I've been down on it it's cos the issues have been boring. I don't think this run will be marked as one of the greatest ever, but it certainly has odd moments of brilliance.

Speaking of Wonder Woman, I am much happier with the newcostume for the tv pilot. There's also a picture of Palicki playing Diana in her ambassador (my description) outfit and footage from the pilot. I'm getting really excited about this now!

Teen Titans #93
The team join Solstice! Bart makes a bit of a fool out of himself and a demon steals Cassie and her mum. Scott is on pencils, as usual, and demonstrates that she understands how gravity affects breasts. Y'see, the demon has breasts, very saggy ones at that, and when she leaps around her breasts move too. In the right way. Get Scott on more more books please! You might have to clone her to do this..

Sunday, April 03, 2011

I just can't get excited about the GL move. :( The cgi looks terrible and Ryan Reynolds makes a rubbish Hal. Well, maybe he'll be better in the movie, but he looks all wrong for Hal. The suit looks awful, the ring looks terrible and I really dislike Abin Sur. Also, when hal recites the oath I should get chills down my spine. I don't. Maybe when he recites it at the end of the movie (and he'd better) and he's all heroic I'll feel happier.

On the plus side, Hector Hammond looks pretty great, as does Sinestro, and views of Oa do get me excted, but on the whole.. I feel meh. This makes me sad. I really want to be excited about it (and of course I'll go and see it) and I want to love it but I feel really dubious about it. I so want this movie to be a success, but I have a feeling it will look cheap.